End corruption with free, fair and open elections
Posted in Liberty Points by R Lee Wrights on February 22nd, 2007 by Brian Irving
The former Speaker of the NC House of Representatives, one of the most powerful positions in state government, is now a convicted felon.
Hours before he pled guilty to accepting cash bribes, legislators lined up to sign a card expressing support for Jim Black. A day later, many of these same legislators said they were “shocked… shocked” upon learning Black was guilty of betraying the public trust.
“Who knew?” seemed to be the general attitude. Governor Mike Easley even lamented that the plea would “overshadow” Black’s “25-years of public service.”
Black’s plea deal conveniently allows him to avoid trial on the other charges pending against him which were getting all the publicity.
Predictably legislators “shocked” by Black’s corruption propose even more ethics rules, oblivious to the warning of Roman historian Tacitus, “The more corrupt a State, the more it legislates.”
Gimme a break!
Why are we surprised elected officials are corrupt? Government regulation pervades every aspect of our economic, social and personal life. So it logically follows, if you really want to get something done, you must bend the rules or the rule makers.
Government is no longer about protecting individual liberty and promoting personal responsibility, it’s about “what’s in it for me” and “how much can I get.”
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. A Democratic-Republican duopoly exerts absolute power over NC government. It manipulates the law to favor supporters, reward cronies and thwart any party or person who challenges that control.
The root cause of political corruption is not the abuse of power; it’s the power to abuse.
No one asks why government regulates the amount of water in my toilet, or dictates what we can do on our own property or in our own homes. No one questions the millions of taxpayer’s dollars given to huge companies like Dell and Google, or used to build major stadiums for major league sports team.
Corporate welfare, limits on freedom and restrictions on rights are justified in the name of “the common good,” “the public interest” or “economic growth.” Anyone who dares challenge this paradigm is shut out of the political process.
Real ethics reform can only happen if we restore free, fair and open elections to North Carolina and give the people more choices, not less.
North Carolina still has arguable one of the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation. For a political party to get on the ballot- other than Democratic or Republican - it must collect more than 70,000 signatures from registered voters. A House bill to reduce that hurdle to the national average of one half of one percent was gutted on the Senate floor on the final day of the last legislative session.
In 2006, nearly half those elected or re-elected to the General Assembly were unopposed. This, of course, did not stop most of them from raising money for their “campaigns.”
The Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties, and other groups, remain dedicated to giving North Carolinians more choices on Election Day. Libertarians are deep into yet another ballot access drive, which we hope to complete for the 2008 election.
North Carolina voters should have at least as many choices at the ballot box as voters in nations just learning about democracy - including Iraq and Russia.
Editor’s Note: For information on the Libertarians’ ballot access drive and efforts to reform the state’s restrictive ballot access laws, go to www.LPNC.org and www.NCOpenElections.org
Brian Irving is a contributing editor for Liberty For All. He can be reached at irving@nc.rr.com.
Richard C. Evey said,
February 22, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
If we work together and support the ballot access program, the lawsuit by the LPNC, all other ways to get more that two parties on the ballot, we can save this republic. The RINO/ DINO rule and that must change.